Antwaan Randle El worked his entire life to find balance in athletics, education and his personal life.
“Whatever you did yesterday is not enough,” Randle El said. “You have to push forward today and push forward tomorrow.”
Randle El, who played on the Pittsburgh Steelers team that won a Super Bowl in 2005, has a wife and six kids.
Now, in his retirement, he is the athletic director at a private Christian school outside Washington, D.C.
He hoped to show student athletes how to find that balance during a speech at the 13th annual All Sports Banquet for USI athletes Monday night.
“Athletics aren’t everything and academics aren’t everything,” Randle El said. “But it’s great to have both.”
He said Monday afternoon that the focus of his speech, which was closed to the public, would be that students need both.
Randle El, who graduated from Indiana University, said he has seen people who turn down scholarships to focus only on academics and they end up lost when they find team settings in the business world.
He said he has seen the opposite in athletes that ignore their academics and find they have nothing to fall back on. Randle El said it is important for athletes to know that there’s an end to all athletic careers and they need to have a degree.
He also said just having a degree is not enough.
“There are millions of people gunning for the job you want,” he said. “You really have to work for it, it isn’t just going to fall into your lap.”
Randle El gave this advice with confidence, something he said he has had his entire life when it came to his vision of success.
“In middle school and high school, I would be writing my autograph. My mom thought I was crazy because I was writing it on everything,” he said. “I just believed I would play professional ball in whatever came first.”
What came first was an offer to play professional baseball when he was 17. An offer his mother urged him to turn down so he could go to college.
He said he thought that offer was it, but at 17, he could not make his own decisions.
“It was great though,” Randle El said. “I got my degree in sports communications, (with a) specialization in broadcasting and a masters in business.”
Excelling at both academics and athletics helped Randle El keep that confidence.
“You have to have confidence. No one can tell you you can’t do this,” he said. “I mean why? Who gave them the pants to tell you you can’t do it?”
The greatest thing a college athlete can be is the kid who has the whole package Randle El said.
Randle El said athletes also need to have an attitude that makes them stand out among the others around them. Showing passion and commitment are great ways to make your mark.
“Find what you’re passionate about. Don’t try to inch to it. Go after it,” Randle El said. “Don’t waver. If there is something you want to do, go get it.”